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A review by eclecticemily
Columbine by Dave Cullen
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Summary: A nonfiction book about the Columbine school shooting. It goes over the shooting itself, the aftermath, as well as what lead up to it. This edition also includes a couple afterwords and epilogues that cover things after the book's original publication.
Favorite Quote: Distortion of time was rampant, particularly chronology. Witnesses recalled less once the killers approached them, not more. Terror stops the brain from forming new memories. A staggering number insisted they were the last ones out of the library—once they were out, it was over. Similarly, most of those injured, even superficially, believed they were the last ones hit. (pg. 287)
Review: This is a really thorough examination of what happened at Columbine. It strikes a good balance of telling about the victims but also giving enough information about the killers. It also tells a lot about mistakes along the way by news media and police that lead to the events or misconceptions around what happened. The only part I don't think 100% worked was that he stated in the intro that part of his goal in writing this was to undo some of the positive perception the killers have/had, but he still portrayed them as having a decent plan and portrayed Dylan pretty sympathetically, so I don't know that he was completely successful.
Favorite Quote: Distortion of time was rampant, particularly chronology. Witnesses recalled less once the killers approached them, not more. Terror stops the brain from forming new memories. A staggering number insisted they were the last ones out of the library—once they were out, it was over. Similarly, most of those injured, even superficially, believed they were the last ones hit. (pg. 287)
Review: This is a really thorough examination of what happened at Columbine. It strikes a good balance of telling about the victims but also giving enough information about the killers. It also tells a lot about mistakes along the way by news media and police that lead to the events or misconceptions around what happened. The only part I don't think 100% worked was that he stated in the intro that part of his goal in writing this was to undo some of the positive perception the killers have/had, but he still portrayed them as having a decent plan and portrayed Dylan pretty sympathetically, so I don't know that he was completely successful.